Chandigarh: The Punjab Government has approved a budget of Rs 150 crore for the repair and maintenance of National Highways in the state.

PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said the decision was taken at a high-level meeting, which was held to review the status of ongoing construction of roads in the state.

He said that besides issuing directions to the concerned officials to monitor the work properly, contractors have also been asked to complete work within the stipulated timeframe.

Dhillon said that the construction of lanes at National Highways, including Shambhu-Jalandhar, Pathankot-Amrtisar, Ludhiana-Talwandi Bhai and Bhogpur-Mukerian was on full swing and these highways would become operational by the end of March 2014.

The minister said that the construction work of 4-6 lanes of Zirakpur-Patiala, Patiala-Bathinda National Highways would start by next month while the construction of 4-6 lanes on Sri Amritsar-Sri Ganga Nagar and Jalandhar-Jind National Highways would start by October next year.